Professional Documents
Culture Documents
achever - not to achieve but to finish, complete as in Il vient d'achever son service militaire - He's
just finished his military service. The English to achieve can be translated by atteindre, réaliser,
accomplir.
actuel(lement) - not actual(ly) but current(ly): Elle est actuellement en Suisse - She's currently in
Switzerland. The English actually is usually translated by en fait.
amateur (m) - although as in English this can have the meaning of non-professional, it more
commonly means enthusiast (as in un amateur de jazz - a jazz lover).
apprécier - not just appreciate but also to estimate or assess : apprécier les conséquences - to
assess the consequences.
assister / assistance - when used with à means to be present at, as in Il n'a pas assisté à la
réunion - He wasn't present at the meeting. Note also that assistance can mean audience as well
as assistance.
caméra - not a camera for taking photos (= un appareil photo) but a film / TV camera.
caution (f) - not caution (= prudence, circonspection or avertissement) but deposit, security or
bail.
chauffeur (m) - not just an English chauffeur, but any kind of professional driver e.g. un
chauffeur de taxi - a taxi driver.
Resource provided by the RealFrench.net website page 1
Copyright Ó The Manchester Metropolitan University 2004. All rights reserved. C Dawson
chips (mpl) - not chips (= frites - fpl) but crisps. The English chip in the computer sense is une
puce.
cohérent - more commonly consistent as in une position cohérente - a consistent position. The
sentence He was barely coherent = On avait peine à le comprendre.
collège (m) - not college as in university but a secondary school up to the age of 16.
commande (f) - not command (=ordre) but order in the commercial or restaurant sense. Une
télécommande is a remote-control.
conception (f), concevoir - in the commercial sense means design, to design rather than
conceive, conception.
conducteur (m) - not the conductor of a bus (= contrôlleur) or an orchestra (chef d'orchestre)
but a driver.
contrôler - more commonly means to check (as in contrôler les billets / passeports). The English
to control is most often translated by dominer, maîtriser etc.
courage (m) - not just courage but also energy. The expression bon courage means variously
good luck, cheer up or other positive wishes depending on the context.
cours (m) - means an individual class as well as a course. A course in a school is un programme
and in a university is un cursus.
décevoir, deception - not to deceive (= tromper) but to disappoint. Note also the noun déception
(f) meaning not deception (= une tromperie) but disappointment.
dégoûter - although can mean to disgust, is often translated by the milder to put off : Ne te laisse
pas dégoûter par la couleur - Don't let the colour put you off.
délai (m) - not delay (= retard) but a timeperiod for doing something : Tu as un délai de 30 jours
pour payer - You have 30 days in which to pay. Note also the expression dans les meilleurs
délais - as soon as possible.
Resource provided by the RealFrench.net website page 2
Copyright Ó The Manchester Metropolitan University 2004. All rights reserved. C Dawson
demander - not to demand (= exiger) but to ask for.
député (m) - not deputy (= un adjoint) but a member of the Assemblée Nationale (the French
Parliament).
déstiné - often means to be aimed at, intended for. For example, Des mesures destinées à réduire
le taux de chômage = Measures aimed at reducing unemployment
détail (m) - means not only detail but also retail (as in le prix de détail - retail price). Note also
un détaillant - a retailer (as opposed to un grossiste - wholesaler) and acheter au détail - to buy
retail (as opposed to acheter en gros - to buy wholesale).
disposer de - not to dispose of (= se débarasser de) but to have (at your disposal).
dossier (m) - not just file or dossier, but in a media context commonly used to mean issue, affair.
Le dossier Elf - The Elf affair.
effectif (m) - none of the meaning of the adjective effective (= efficace) but workforce (or in an
educational context number of students).
énergétique - not energetic as used to describe a person (= energique) but relatiing to energy as a
resource: les ressources énergétique - energy resources.
engin (m) - not engine (= un moteur) but device: un engin de fermeture - a locking device.
enquête (f) - much broader meaning than inquest, including inquiry, investigation and survey.
équipement (m) - not only equipment (more commonly =matériel) but facilities: équipments
sportifs - sports facilities.
exercice (m) - not just exercise but in a business context can also mean financial year.
expérience (f) / expérimenté - not just experience but can also mean experiment. By contrast,
expérimenté means experienced. The verb to experience is most commonly translated by
connaître or, for an emotion, éprouver.
faculté (f) - generally means university rather than faculty. Often shortened to fac: elle est en fac -
she's at university.
faillir - not to fail (= échouer, rater) but to nearly to something: J'ai failli tomber - I nearly fell
over.
figure (f) - not figure (= un personnage in the sense of person, un chiffre in the sense of number
and la ligne in the sense of body shape) but face.
forfait (m) - not a forfeit in a game (= un gage) but something paid at a fixed rate, especially a
package holiday.
formulaire (m) - not a formula (= une formule) but a form, as in remplir un formulaire - to fill in
a form.
global - not so much global as total or overall, as in croissance globale - overall growth.
gratuité (f) - not a gratuity (= un pourboire) but the noun from gratuit meaning free or
gratuitous. Thus la gratuité de l'enseignement means free education.
huile (f) - oil that is edible and not that which can be burned (= la pétrole).
ignorer - although can mean to ignore, most comonly means not to know e.g. J'ignore les détails -
I don't know the details.
impliquer - not just to implicate but also more neutrally to involve : se sentir impliqué - to feel
involved.
important - most commonly important, but in a numerical context can mean significant or
considerable: un nombre important de candidats - a considerable number of candidates; une
hausse importante - a significant increase.
impression (une) - not only impression but also printing. Lancer une impression - to launch a
print-out.
Resource provided by the RealFrench.net website page 4
Copyright Ó The Manchester Metropolitan University 2004. All rights reserved. C Dawson
inciter - usually means to encourage / urge rather than to incite. Le journal a incité le
gouvernement d'investir dans l'education - The paper encouraged the government to invest
more in education.
ingénieur (m) - broader meaning than engineer, including most technical and commercial
domains.
intéressant - in the context of money can mean attractive: Il le vend à un prix intéressant - He's
selling it at an attractive price.
interroger - broader meaning than to interrogate, including to question or to put questions to: Les
journalistes ont interrogé le président sur l'Europe - The journalists questioned the President
on Europe.
intervention (f) - not only intervention but also a surgical operation and a speech or lecture.
inutile - not just useless, but also unnecessary: Inutile de dire qu'il n'y est pas rentré - Needless to
say, he didn't go back.
issue (m) - not an issue (= question, dossier) but an exit, solution or outcome.
joindre - not to join in the sense of an organization (= devenir member de, adhérer à, s'inscrire à
or entrer) , but to get hold of (someone), to enclose or to attach together.
lecture (f) - not a lecture in the academic sense (= une conférence if a public talk, un cours
magistral if part of a series of academic lectures) but the act of reading.
matériel (m) - not material (= du tissu, de l'étoffe - f - for making clothes etc., or la matière for
stories etc.) but equipment. In a computer context matériel means hardware, the opposite of le
logiciel (= software).
mobile (m) - when used as a noun means motive: le mobile du crime - the motive for the crime.
muter, mutation (f) - not just mutate, mutation in the biological sense but more commonly
transfer : être muté à une filiale - to be transferred to a subsidiary.
nouvelle (f) - in the literary sense not novel but short story.
offre (f) / offrir - not just an offer but also supply in the commercial sense: l'offre et la demande -
supply and demand. Offrir means not only to offer but also to buy : Je te l'offre - I'll buy it for
you.
parc (m) - not just park but also in a commercial sense total number of or stock.
part (f) - not a part (= une partie in general or un rôle in a play) but a share: Une part de marché -
a market share.
passer - in the expression passer un examen means to take an exam, not to pass an exam (=
réussir un examen).
pension (f) - not just pension but also boarding house, boarding school and board in general:
pension complète - full board.
percevoir - not just perceive but also to receive money: percevoir des droits d'auteur - to recieve
royalties. Un percepteur is a tax inspecteur.
pétrole (m) - not petrol (= de l'essence) but oil that can be made into fuel etc. L'huile is edible oil.
plan (m) - not plan (= un projet, dessein) but a map of a town, transport system etc.
politique (m) - not just politics but also a policy: la politique étrangère - foreign policy.
préjudice (m) - not préjudice (= des préjugés) but harm. Porter préjudice à - To cause harm to.
président (m) - often translated by chairman / chairwoman rather than president: Le président
d'une entreprise - the chairman of a company.
prétendre - not to pretend (= faire comme si / faire semblant de faire) but to claim: Il prétend tout
ignorer - He pretends not to know anything.
réaliser - the use of this verb to mean to realise in the sense of to become aware of is not fully
accepted. It is preferable to use se rendre compte de qch.
reporter - not to report (= signaler, faire le compte rendu de) but to postpone.
sérieux - can mean reliable or conscientious as well as serious: C'est une compagnie très sérieuse
- It's a very reliable company.
service (m) - in addition to service can also mean favour (as in Tu peux me rendre un service? -
Can you do me a favour?) and department (as in le service du personnel - personnel
department).
sinistre (m) - when used as a noun means variously a disaster, an accident or damage.
société (f) / social - in a commercial sense not a society (= une association) but a company.
susceptible - not susceptible (= sensible) but touchy. Also the expression être susceptible à - to be
likely to.
terrible - not only terrible but in some contexts the opposite i.e. great : Il n'est pas terrible ce film
- It's not great this film.